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A  STUDY  OF  THE  PHYSICAL 

VIGOR  OF  AMERICAN 

WOMEN 


BY 

EDWIN  ELMORE  JACOBS,  Ph.  D. 

President  of  Ashland  College,  and  Sometime  Fellow  in 
Sociology  in  Clark  University 


BOSTON 

MARSHALL  JONES  COMPANY 
MDCCCCXX 


V) 


COPYRIGHT,   1920 

'     BY  EDWIN  E.  JACOBS 


PREFACE 

In  spite  of  Sparta  with  her  sturdy  women  ath- 
letes; in  spite  of  the  Scythian  Amazons,  fierce 
and  successful  warriors ;  in  spite  of  the  women  of 
Japan,  coaling  great  vessels  by  their  physical 
labor,  and  the  women  of  the  hill  tribes  of  India, 
carrying  stone  upon  their  heads;  in  spite  of  the 
unbroken  record  of  savages  without  number, 
among  whom  women  are  the  beasts  of  burden,  we 
still  persist  in  out  pretty  legend  that  the  woman 
is  "the  weaker  vessel." 

In  a  narrative  by  an  English  traveler,  Hearne, 
of  a  journey  in  the  wild  northwest,  they  were  told 
that  all  their  troubles  were  due  to  their  having  no 
women  with  them. 

"When  all  the  men  are  heavy-laden,"  said  his 
critic,  they  can  neither  hunt  nor  travel  to  any  con- 
siderable distance ;  and  in  case  they  meet  success 
in  hunting,  who  is  to  carry  the  produce  of  their 
labor?  Women  were  made  for  labor;  one  of  them 
can  carry  or  haul  as  much  as  two  men  can  do. ' ' 

No  weaker  vessel  about  the  women  of  the  wild 
northwest. 

The  last  two  generations  have  seen  a  great 
change  even  among  ladies.  The  outdoor  sports, 
the  change  in  costume  from  a  long  flowing  riding 


4 50209 


habit  to  a  divided  skirt,  the  joy  of  our  girls  in  ball 
and  tennis,  golf,  swimming,  sailing,  even  flying — 
these  have  changed  first  the  women  and  then, 
slowly,  our  ideas  about  them. 

Now  comes  the  steady  light  of  scientific  re- 
search to  establish  these  things  as  recorded  facts, 
buttressed  by  many  figures. 

This  book  of  President  Jacobs  is  not  long  nor 
heavy,  yet  the  subject  matter  is  of  the  highest  so- 
cial importance. 

He  recognizes  what  is  so  strongly  postulated  by 
Lester  F.  Ward,  that  biologically  speaking  "the 
female  not  only  typifies  the  race  but  metaphor 
aside  she  IS  the  race ; ' '  and  then  proceeds  to  show 
that  this  guardian  of  human  destinies  is  growing 
more  worthy  of  her  high  responsibility. 

From  year  to  year,  from  decade  to  decade,  she  is 
creeping  up  taller,  larger,  stronger,  more  healthy 
and  vigorous,  she  is  becoming  fitter  for  her  work, 
better  able  both  to  build  and  to  be,  a  great  hu- 
manity. 

Everything  which  can  promote  this  beneficent 
progress  and  our  full  appreciation  of  it  is  of 
world  service,  therefore  we  should  welcome  a 
careful  study  like  this,  and  spread  the  knowledge 
of  it. 

CHARLOTTE  PERKINS  OILMAN. 


FOREWORD 

In  seeking  to  determine  the  general  native 
physical  vigor  of  any  population,  there  are  no 
better  or  more  representative  groups  perhaps  than 
those  to  which  most  attention  is  paid  in  the  fol- 
lowing pages,  i.  e.,  unmarried  females.  These,  as 
it  will  readily  be  seen,  suffer  less  from  whatever 
ill  effects  there  may  be  in  industry  and  child- 
bearing.  Moreover,  the  female  part  of  our  popu- 
lation suffers  less  also  from  the  ill  effects  of  alco- 
hol, tobacco,  and  venereal  diseases.  Hence  to  get 
at  the  most  representative  class  which  might  be 
taken  as  an  index  from  the  status  of  the  basic 
health  of  America,  the  women  of  the  country  were 
selected  as  a  basis  of  study  and  the  greatest  at- 
tention was  given  to  college  girls. 

The  conclusions  to  be  drawn  are,  therefore,  not 
to  be  confined  to  the  classes  studied  only,  but  are 
to  be  applied  to  the  citizens  of  America  in  general. 
It  is  easily  conceivable  that  the  male  half  of  the 
population  of  a  country  can  neither  be  very  far 
ahead  nor  behind  the  female  part  in  its  general 
health.  Hence  the  selection  of  the  groups  for  this 
study. 

Worcester,  Mass. 


CONTENTS 

Chapter  I      Introduction 
Chapter  II    Fertility 

Progressive  Functional  Sterility 
Potential  Fecundity 
Controlled  Fertility 

Chapter  III  Longevity     and     Anthropological 
Measurements 
Women's  Shoes 
Women's  Gloves 

Measurements  at  Wellesley  College 
Mt.  Holyoke  College 
Smith  College 
Nebraska  State  University 
Oberlin  College 

Summary 

Chapter  IV  Interest  and  Participation  in  Ath- 
letics 
Chapter    V  Conclusion 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  PHYSICAL  VIGOR 
OF  AMERICAN  WOMEN 

CHAPTER  I 
Introduction 

The  physical  vigor  of  any  people  is,  beyond  any 
doubt,  a  powerful  factor  in  their  civilization  for 
it  affects  profoundly  every  aspect  of  their  life. 
Its  effect  is  significant  on  their  industrial  life  for 
only  the  strong  can  be  efficient  workers.  A  na- 
tion's physical  vigor  also  affects  its  military 
standing  for  only  the  physically  fit  can  be  able 
soldiers.  Furthermore,  it  affects  a  people  's  racial 
continuity  for  the  physically  vigorous  are  more 
likely  to  have  not  only  a  sufficient  number  of  off- 
spring, but  at  the  same  time  the  most  vigorous 
and  healthy  ones.  Indeed,  it  takes  but  a  mo- 
ment's reflection  to  see  that,  "the  first  wealth  is 
health,"  that  a  nation's  greatest  asset  is  the  phys- 
ical vigor  of  its  citizens,  that  a  nation  is  bankrupt 
which  has  an  insufficient  supply  of  virile  men  and 
women,  and  that  sound  physiological  vigor  is  all 
essential  for  national  prosperity  and  racial  con- 
tinuity. 

Professor  Giddings  (1)  says  that  "physical 
vigor,  physiological  power,  is  the  only  sure  basis 
of  enduring  human  excellence,"  which  statement 
wholly  agrees  with  John's  inspiring  motto  that 

(5) 


HYSIC'4#\yjGOR    OF    AMERICAN  WOMEN 


,  mttscles  can  make  men  great  or  a 
nation  'free!"'  'Sti  important  to  their  own  welfare, 
is  the  physical  vigor  of  their  people,  that  many 
nations  from  antiquity  on  down  to  the  present 
time,  have  given  some  attention  to  the  health, 
physical  endurance,  and  prowess  of  their  citizens. 
This  is  shown  by  the  Greeks  in  their  striving  after 
a  perfect  human  form  and  by  their  perennial  in- 
terest in  public  games  and  contests,  an  interest 
which  was  also  later  exhibited  by  the  Romans. 
But  in  more  recent  years,  the  interest  attached 
to  national  vitality  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  it 
has  been  the  subject  for  frequent  investigations 
both  of  a  public  and  private  character.  In  both 
Europe  and  America,  numerous  commissions  have 
been  appointed  by  the  governments  of  different 
nations,  whose  duty  it  was  to  look  into  what  is 
often  spoken  of  as  "racial  deterioration,"  to  re- 
port whether  they  found  indications  of  such  a 
decline,  and  to  suggest  methods  of  resisting  it. 

Among  many  writers  (2)  upon  this  subject 
there  seems  to  prevail  the  idea,  that  there  is  such 
a  decline.  They  hold  that  we  as  a  race  are  illus- 
trating that  old  adage,  that  "we  are  growing 
weaker  and  wiser,"  notwithstanding  all  our  in- 
creased culture  and  our  advance  in  the  sciences. 
Moreover,  it  is  often  pointed  out  that  war  espe- 
cially is  responsible  for  much  of  this  so-called 
physical  decline.  Madison  Grant  (3)  suggests 
that  the  Napoleonic  wars  are  responsible  for  as 
much  as  four  inches  decrease  in  the  stature  of  the 
(6) 


INTRODUCTION 

French  people  and  further  estimates  that  the 
recent  world  war  will  greatly  reduce  the  phys- 
ical vigor  of  the  people  engaging  in  it. 

David  Starr  Jordan  (4)  and  others  make  esti- 
mates of  like  character.  It  is  furthermore  pointed 
out  that  during  the  Boer  war  (5)  it  was  found 
that  only  10  percent  of  the  men  applying  at  the 
recruiting  station  in  Manchester,  were  found  fit 
for  service,  and  that  England  had  to  lower  her 
physical  standards  for  soldiers  three  times  within 
the  past  half  century  (6). 

Hence,  for  these  and  other  reasons,  many  have 
concluded  that  the  race  both  in  England  and 
America,  is  undergoing  a  genuine  physical  deca- 
dence. Without  expressing  an  opinion  upon  the 
facts  presented  above,  it  seems  highly  important 
to  investigate  this  subject,  and  to  seek  to  deter- 
mine whether  such  a  decline  has  set  in,  and  if  so, 
to  ascertain  whether  it  is  measurable.  Now  wo- 
man's contribution  to  the  national  vitality  is  of 
great  importance  and  doubtless  as  highly  signifi- 
cant as  that  of  man's  for  taken  by-and-large,  the 
men  of  a  country  can  be  no  stronger  than  their 
mothers.  Indeed,  Dr.  Sargent  (7)  says  that  "as 
a  matter  of  fact,  most  of  the  famous  athletes 
whom  I  have  examined,  attribute  their  great  phy- 
sical power  largely  to  the  fine  physique  of  their 
mothers."  And  certainly  the  mother's  part  in  re- 
production would  have  far  reaching  results  con- 
sidered from  the  standpoint  of  eugenics. 
(7) 


PHYSICAL  VIGOR   OF  AMERICAN  WOMEN 

I  purpose  in  this  study,  therefore,  to  show  that 
there  is  no  real  evidence  of  a  decline  in  the  physi- 
cal vigor  of  the  women  of  America,  but  on  the 
other  hand  to  bring  such  evidence  forward  as  will 
show  that  there  are  now  tendencies  set  going  to 
increase  their  physical  vigor.  By  physical  vigor 
here  is  meant  that  condition  of  the  physical  life 
in  which  there  is  energy  enough  developed  not 
only  to  keep  the  body  alive  and  active,  but  more- 
over a  surplus  which  may  be  utilized  in  other 
ways. 

Now  it  is  a  well  known  fact,  that  beginning 
about  half  a  century  ago,  the  social  status  of 
woman  began  to  undergo  a  most  profound  re-ad- 
justment in  America,  for  about  this  time,  there 
set  in  forces  which  were  to  bring  about  two  very 
remarkable  changes,  viz.,  (1)  the  reduction  of  the 
size  of  the  family,  and  (2)  the  passing  of  many 
household  arts  and  crafts.  The  first  of  these  two 
changes  is  shown  by  the  following  data  (8)  rela- 
tive to  the  size  of  the  family  in  America  for  the 
past  sixty  years : 

Year  1850     1860     1870     1880     1890     1900     1910 

No.  in  Family    5.6       5.3       5.1       5.0       4.9       4.7      4.3 

It  will  be  seen  from  these  figures  that  there  has 
been  a  steady  decline  in  the  size  of  the  family 
within  the  last  five  or  six  decades  and  this  could 
not  help  but  have  a  very  striking  effect  upon  the 
health  and  physical  vigor  of  woman.  The  second 
of  these  changes,  viz.,  the  passing  of  many  house- 
hold arts  and  crafts,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that, 
(8) 


INTRODUCTION 

soon  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  war  in  America, 
there  was  a  very  profound  industrial  re-adjust- 
ment. The  factory  system  of  manufacture  began 
to  replace  home  industries.  Articles  that  for  years 
had  been  made  by  the  women  of  the  household, 
were  now  made  in  improved  ways  in  the  shops. 
This  left  both  their  minds  and  hands  free  from 
drains  that  had  for  centuries  sapped  their  ener- 
gies. 

I  purpose,  furthermore,  to  correlate  these  two, 
viz.,  woman's  increased  physical  vigor,  and  her  re- 
lease from  excessive  child-bearing  and  household 
drudgery.  I  purpose  to  show  that,  with  these 
changes  setting  in,  in  woman's  social  status,  she 
had  both  time  and  energy  to  devote  to  other  things 
and  that  with  this  surplus  of  leisure  and  strength, 
she  blossomed  out,  gaining  in  intellectual  and 
physical  vigor.  Her  energies  no  longer  thus  dis- 
sipated, she  had  time  to  develop  and  grow.  In 
accordance  with  the  .principle  of  individuation 
as  laid  down  by  Herbert  Spencer,  (9)  the  energy 
which  formerly  was  devoted  to  the  reproduction 
and  care  of  offspring,  could  now  be  used  in  self- 
development.  Since  there  are  two  forces  present 
in  every  organism,  one  showing  itself  in  the  pro- 
duction of  other  individuals,  and  one  in  all  the 
processes  of  self  preservation,  they  must  at  all 
times  be  in  the  process  of  equilibrium,  and  as  one 
increases  the  other  must  decrease.  Hence  if  indi- 
viduation includes  all  the  processes  which  com- 
plete and  sustain  the  life  of  the  individual,  and  if 

(9) 


PHYSICAL  VIGOR    OF   AMERICAN  WOMEN 

reproduction  includes  all  the  processes  which  re- 
sult in  the  formation  of  new  individuals,  then  be- 
tween individuation  and  reproduction  there  must 
always  be  more  or  less  opposition.  Hence  when 
woman  was  relieved  of  this  age-old  drain  upon 
her  physical  resources  of  bearing  children,  she 
began  to  build  up  her  own  body.  One  would  ex- 
pect, then,  to  find  that  modern  women,  improved 
both  physically  and  mentally,  would  expend  their 
surplus  energy  in  many  new  ways. 

Accordingly,  one  would  expect  them  to  enter 
wider  fields  of  activity  such  as  business  and  the 
professions.  This  they  did  as  will  be  shown  by  an 
examination  of  the  Reports  of  the  Census  for  the 
past  half  dozen  decades.  In  1870  only  about  13 
percent  of  the  total  female  population  over  ten 
years  of  age,  was  engaged  in  gainful  occupations 
while  by  the  year  1910,  the  percent  had  risen  to 
23.4.  The  expression,  "gainful  occupations "  as 
used  in  the  Census  Reports,  does  not  include 
housekeeping.  About  this  time,  that  is,  about  the 
decade  beginning  with  the  year  1870,  there  was  a 
most  significant  increase  in  women's  attendance 
in  the  schools  and  colleges,  for  in  1879  there  was 
but  one  white  girl  out  of  every  916  white  women 
in  a  school  of  higher  learning  in  the  United 
States.  By  the  year  1915  there  was  one  out  of 
every  371  in  some  school  of  higher  learning.  (10). 
And  calculations  based  upon  the  distribution  of 
"commencement  prizes  and  honors"  as  listed  in 
the  catalogues  of  upwards  of  one  hundred  co-edu- 
(10) 


INTRODUCTION 

cational  colleges,  shows  that  these  were  almost 
exactly  equally  divided,  about  half  going  to  men 
and  half  to  women. 

Also  during  this  period,  according  to  a  recent 
study  by  Patee,  (11)  there  was  a  veritable  out- 
burst of  feminine  activity  in  the  field  of  literature. 
This  was  represented  by  such  a  brilliant  galaxy 
of  literary  women  as  Louisa  Alcott,  Helen  Hunt 
Jackson,  Celia  Thaxter,  Sarah  Jewett,  Mary  Free- 
man, Elizabeth  Stuart  Phelps  and  others.  To  be 
added  to  these,  are  many  present  day  writers  such 
as  Jean  Stratton  Porter,  Mrs.  Perkins  Gilman, 
Anna  Howard  Shaw,  and  many  others.  So  also 
are  the  women  of  the  present  day  interested  in 
art,  music,  the  drama,  and  public  matters  gener- 
ally. If  spontaneous,  earnest  endeavor  is  any  in- 
dication of  vigor,  then  these  women  together  with 
others,  such  as  Jane  Addams,  Harriet  Keeler,  Ella 
Flagg  Young,  etc.,  who  are  active  in  public  mat- 
ters generally,  furnish  evidence  of  feminine  phys- 
ical vigor,  for  taken  by-and-large,  vigorous  people 
are  the  originators  of  vigorous  ideas. 

This  study,  however,  will  deal  more  particular- 
ly with  woman's  physical  vigor  as  indicated  by 
physical  conditions.  Hence  an  investigation  will 
be  made  of  those  physical  conditions  which  tend 
most  to  exhibit  her  rising  power  and  which  can 
be  detected  with  some  degree  of  accuracy.  This 
investigation  will  be  along  the  following  four 
lines,  viz.,  1,  fertility,  2,  longevity,  3,  anthropolo- 
gical measurements,  and  4,  interest  and  participa- 

en) 


PHYSICAL  VIGOR    OF    AMERICAN  WOMEN 

tion  in  athletics.  For  if  it  is  true  that  women 
have  profited  physically  by  the  changes  which 
have  taken  place  in  their  social  status,  then  they 
ought  to  have  increased  and  bettter  body  propor- 
tions. They  ought,  then,  to  show  an  increase  in 
height,  their  vital  index  should  be  larger,  so  also 
with  Goldstein's  index,  lung  capacity,  chest  girth, 
and  muscular  strength.  With  increasing  physical 
vigor,  they  ought  to  enter  increasingly  into  spon- 
taneous and  vigorous  play,  for  only  the  old,  de- 
crepit, greatly  exhausted,  and  physically  wasted, 
do  not  play.  Spencer  held  that  the  play  of  the 
young  is  to  release  surplus  energy  and  as  much 
can  be  said  of  the  spontaneous  play  of  adults. 
Such  play  doubtless  is  a  very  accurate  measure 
of  abundant  exuberance  of  physical  vigor. 

These  four  subjects,  then,  fertility,  longevity, 
anthropological  measurements,  and  woman's  ath- 
letics together  with  a  conclusion,  will  be  the  topics 
for  the  following  chapters. 


(12) 


CHAPTER  II 
Fertility 

Since  the  processes  of  reproduction  very  greatly 
affect  every  part  of  a  woman's  being,  it  has  been 
justly  taken  as  a  test  of  her  physical  vigor.  J. 
Lewis  Bonhote  (12),  in  a  recent  study  of  vigor 
and  heredity,  finds  that  infertility  is  correlated 
with  a  lack  of  vigor  and  that  health  and  vitality 
tend  to  bring  about  normal  reproduction.  He  says 
that  in  captivity,  most  animals  are  "notoriously 
infertile,"  and  that  they  show  by  their  coats  and 
in  other  ways,  that  they  are  out  of  condition. 
Lion,  quail,  and  other  wild  forms  which  are  fer- 
tile under  domestication,  he  says,  show  great  bod- 
ily vigor.  Karl  Pearson  (13)  also  holds  that  there 
may  be  a  possible  correlation  between  strong  phy- 
siques and  fertility.  Dr.  G.  E.  Lydson  (14)  in 
his  book  on  social  disease,  quotes  with  approval 
Moreau's  statement  that  both  sterility  anl  inabil- 
ity to  bring  the  young  to  a  complete  deA^elopinent 
are  evidence  of  racial  decline.  Certainly,  when 
the  animal  body  is  vigorous  and  healthy,  all  nor- 
mal functions  tend  to  be  properly  discharged. 
Hence  if  the  mother  is  possessed  of  great  vigor, 
the  offspring  will,  in  the  absence  of  artificial  lim- 
itation, be  numerous  and  healthy  and  such  deliv- 
(13) 


PHYSICAL  VIGOR    OF   AMERICAN  WOMEN 

cries  and  still-births  and  excessive  plural  births,  as 
will  be  shown  later,  will  occur  only  infrequently. 
Hence,  a  study  of  the  comparative  fertility  of  the 
women  of  the  present  with  those  of  several  gen- 
erations ago,  will  tend  to  show  their  comparative 
bodily  vigor. 

As  already  indicated,  the  size  of  the  family  in 
America  has  shown  a  steady  decline  during  the 
past  several  decades.  This  decline  is  variously 
spoken  of  as  an  increase  in  sterility,  a  lack  of 
fecundity,  or  a  decline  in  fertility.  Hence  these 
terms  are  used  interchangeably  although  they  do 
not  denote  exactly  the  same  condition.  When  a 
marriage  is  without  children,  it  is  said  to  be  a 
sterile  marriage  or  that  the  union  is  unfertile. 
But  a  lack  of  fecundity  refers  more  particularly 
to  the  organic  inability  to  have  children.  Doubt- 
less, there  are  many  factors  operating  to  bring 
about  a  reduced  birth-rate  in  America,  but  what- 
ever they  may  be,  they  may  be  classed  as  func- 
tional sterility,  potential  fecundity  and  controlled 
fertility.  That  is  to  say,  there  is  either  a  progres- 
sive change  in  the  organic  functions  of  reproduc- 
tion on  the  part  of  women,  or  else  marriage  is 
taking  place  under  such  conditions  as  to  make  it 
impossible  of  fertility,  such  as  later  unions,  ven- 
ereal disease,  etc.,  or  else  the  fertility  is  controlled 
for  social  or  personal  reasons.  If  it  is  found  that 
the  latter  two  operate  to  reduce  the  birth-rate, 
then  this  decline  would  not  indicate  at  all  any  de- 
cline in  organic  fertility  and  hence  no  decrease  in 
(14) 


FERTILITY 

the  physical  vigor.  But  if  the  former  appears  to 
be  the  determining  factor  in  birth  decline,  then 
it  would  show  a  tendency  toward  physical  decay. 
These  topics,  functional  sterility,  potential  fecun- 
dity, and  controlled  fertility  will  be  taken  up  in 
order. 

PROGRESSIVE  FUNCTIONAL  STERILITY 

An  increase  in  the  deaths  from  nervous  and 
pelvic  disorders  in  the  women  of  the  present  day 
as  compared  with  those  of  former  years,  would 
indicate  a  tendency  towards  a  disturbance  of  the 
factors  of  reproduction  and  hence  would  be  indi- 
cative of  physical  decline.  The  following  table 
compiled  from  the  Reports  of  the  Federal  Census 
for  the  various  years,  indicates  the  percentage  of 
female  deaths  from  such  diseases  tothe  total  num- 
ber of  female  deaths: 

Years  1870  1880  1890  1900  1910 
Causes  of  Death 

Nervous  Disease  .110  .100  .100  .110  .090 
Puerperal  State  .020  .020  .027  .019  .023 
Disease  of  the  Female  Or- 
gan of  Generation  .057  .067  .070  .065  .067 

Making  all  due  allowance  for  the  different  meth- 
ods of  recording  deaths  in  the  different  decades 
and  for  the  fact  that  in  recent  years  records  are 
more  accurately  kept,  it  will  be  noted  that  the 
differences  for  the  separate  figures  are  so  slight 
as  to  show  no  trend  one  way  or  the  other.  The 
fact  that,  with  the  advance  in  modern  surgery 
and  medicine,  deaths  have  been  delayed  for  the 
above  diseases,  does  not  affect  the  validity  of  the 
05) 


PHYSICAL  VIGOR    OF    AMERICAN  WOMEN 

above  statistics  for  the  deaths  with  which  these 
have  been  compared  were  similarly  delayed. 

A  more  recent  form  of  classification  of  diseases 
in  later  Federal  Censuses  brings  to  light  data  on 
the  following  diseases,  viz.,  cancer  of  the  breast 
and  ovaries,  diseases  of  the  genito-urinary  organs, 
and  the  ills  due  to  the  puerpal  state.  The  table 
below  exhibits  the  percentages  of  female  deaths 
from  these  diseases  to  the  total  number  of  female 
deaths  by  two  year  periods  beginning  with  the 
year  1905: 

Years  1905-6     1907-8     1909-10     1910-11     1913 

Cancer    of    Breast 

and  Ovaries  .022         .022         .021  .021       .030 

Diseases  of  the  Gen- 
ito-urinary, Organs  .074         .075         .076  .078        .083 

Accidents  of  the  Puer 

pal  State  .020         .021         .020  .023        .025 

It  will  be  noted  here  that,  for  the  percentage 
of  deaths  due  to  cancer  of  the  breast  and  ovaries 
there  has  been  an  increase  of  less  than  1  percent 
within  the  last  eight  years,  while  the  deaths  from 
cancer  for  the  whole  population  rose  from  63  per 
100,000  of  the  population  in  1900  to  78.9  by  the 
year  1913.  Deaths  due  to  diseases  of  the  genito- 
urinary organs  also  increased  less  than  1  percent 
while  the  deaths  due  to  Bright 's  disease,  which  is 
included  in  the  above  classification,  rose  from  89 
per  100,000  of  the  population  in  1900  to  102.9  by 
the  year  1913  (15).  The  cause  of  the  increase  in 
these  two  diseases  for  the  whole  population  has 
yet  to  be  determined  and  in  comparison,  woman 
has  certainly  held  her  own. 
(16) 


FERTILITY 

Another  condition  that  may  be  taken  as  a  test 
of  physical  decadence  is  that  which  tends  to  make 
still-births  more  common.  Alfred  Russel  Wallace 
(16)  lays  considerable  stress  upon  this  point  in 
his  discussion  of  the  increasing  number  of  still- 
births in  certain  English  towns.  He  points  out 
that  the  increase  in  the  percentage  of  still-and 
non-viable  births  clearly  indicates  that  the  women 
of  these  towns  are  undergoing  a  physical  decline. 
Of  course,  in  those  cases  he  relates  it  to  unwhole- 
some factory  conditions.  Talbot  (17)  in  his  lisf; 
of  degenerate  stigmata  does  not  mention  still- 
births as  a  mark  of  degeneracy  in  women,  but  fur- 
ther does  say  that  the  offspring  of  women  who 
have  neurasthenic  disorders  do  "not  retain 
enough  vigor  to  pass  through  the  normal  proc- 
esses of  development.'*  It  seems  wholly  reason- 
able to  suppose  that  when  the  mother  possesses 
great  physical  vigor  and  is  in  normal  good  health, 
she  will  properly  nourish  the  foetus  and  bring  it 
to  a  healthy  birth. 

The  following  table  compiled  from  the  annual 
Reports  of  the  state  Boards  of  Health,  exhibits 
the  percentage  of  still-births  to  the  total  number 
of  births  in  Massachusetts,  Vermont,  and  Connec- 
ticut, for  the  years  indicated: 


(17) 


PHYSICAL  VIGOR    OF   AMERICAN  WOMEN 

Massachusetts  1865-70 2.9 

1870-75 3.6 

1875-80 2.9 

1880-85 3.2 

1885-90 3.4 

1890-95 3.5 

1895-00 3.7 

1900-05 3.7 

1905-10 3.5 

1910-13 3.5 

Vermont  1857-67 1.6 

1867-77 2.5 

1877-87 3.0 

1887-97 3.1 

1902-13 4.5 

Connecticut  1893-98 4.2 

1898-03 4.3 

1903-08 4.3 

1908-13 4.0 

1913-14 3.7 

It  will  be  observed  from  these  tables  that  in 
Massachusetts  there  has  been  a  gain  in  the  num- 
ber of  still-births  of  less  than  1  percent  during 
the  period  of  nearly  fifty  years.  In  Vermont  the 
gain  has  been  less  than  3  percent  for  a  period  of 
over  fifty  years  while  in  Connecticut  there  has 
been  a  slight  loss  during  a  period  of  over  twenty 
years.  These  changes  seem  too  slight  to  be  indica- 
tive of  a  tendency  in  any  direction  but  it  might 
be  well  to  bear  in  mind  that  there  has  been  at 
the  same  time  much  immigration  to  the  New  Eng- 
land States  and  some  emigration  from  them  to 
western  states.  This  latter  movement  would 
doubtless  take  the  more  vigorous  and  leave  the 
less  sturdy  at  home.  Moreover,  local  conditions 
may  operate  to  cause  an  increase  in  the  percent- 
CIS) 


FERTILITY 

age  of  still-births  for  in  New  England  there  are 
more  females  over  ten  years  of  age  engaged  in 
gainful  occupations  than  in  any  other  section  of 
the  United  States.  In  New  England  there  is 
26.6  percent  of  such  females  so  engaged,  in  the 
Mountain  Division,  12.6  percent,  while  in  the  Pa- 
cific Division  there  is  only  14.6  percent. 

Dr.  Talbot  further  lists  the  tendency  to  plural 
births  as  one  of  the  stigmata  of  degeneracy.  He 
finds  that  frequent  and  multiple  births  occur  most 
frequently  in  families  of  hereditary  lunatics.  This 
has  been  corroborated  by  Keirman  and  Harriet 
Alexander  (17)  in  connection  with  the  Cook  Coun- 
ty Hospital,  Chicago.  They  found  that  twins, 
triplets  and  quadruplets,  were  six  times  as  fre- 
quent among  abnormal  parents  as  among  normal 
ones.  Mannin  has  found  similar  conditions  pre- 
vailing in  Australia.  Valenta  (17)  in  Vienna  has 
noted  like  results  there.  He  reports  the  case  of 
an  epileptic  mother  who  gave  birth  to  36  children, 
including  twins  six  times,  quadruplets  four  times, 
and  twice  triplets.  Dr.  Talbot  concludes  that  re- 
sults of  the  same  order  occur  among  other  classes 
of  the  physically  degenerate. 

According  to  Spencer's  principle  of  individua- 
tion  already  stated,  excessive  fertility  would  indi- 
cate a  tendency  to  generalize  function  rather  than 
to  specialize  it.  That  is  to  say,  that  among  lower 
types  of  animals,  much  of  the  energy  of  the  fe- 
male is  expended  upon  reproduction  and  in  not  a 
few  cases,  the  mother  forfeits  her  own  life  in 
(19) 


PHYSICAL  VIGOR    OF    AMERICAN  WOMEN 

order  to  bring  many  offspring  into  being.  Exces- 
sive ovulation,  therefore,  would  seem  to  be  an  in- 
dication of  a  return  to  a  lower  and  earlier  type. 
Moreover,  according  to  a  study  made  some  years 
ago  by  Hall  and  Smith  (18),  it  seems  that  families 
of  excessive  fertility  were  inclined  to  die  out. 
After  studying  some  of  the  larger  families  of 
early  New  England,  they  conclude  that,  where  the 
mother  expended  her  vigor  upon  a  few  children, 
the  family  continued  through  many  generations 
and  where  there  were  large  families,  death  was 
excessive  and  family  extinction  more  common. 
Hence  if  excessive  ovulation  resulting  in  plural 
births  is  an  indication  of  physical  decline,  it  would 
seem  that  it  ought  to  show  itself  in  the  percentage 
of  plural  births  of  the  last  half  century. 

The  percentage  of  plural  births  to  the  total 
number  of  births  in  Massachusetts,  Vermont  and 
Connecticut  (19)  for  the  years  indicated  is  given 
in  the  table  below: 

Massachusetts  Vermont  Connecticut 

Years  % 

1893-98  2.0 

1898-03  2.3 

1903-08  2.2 

1908-13  1.9 

1913-14  2.1 


Years 

% 

Years 

% 

1870-75 

1.3 

1857-62 

1.9 

1875-80 

1.3 

1862-67 

1.6 

1880-85 

1.4 

1867-72 

1.9 

1885-90 

1.7 

1872-77 

2.0 

1890-95 

1.8 

1877-82 

1.5 

1895-00 

2.0 

1882-87 

1.7 

1900-05 

2.1 

1887-92 

1.7 

1905-10 

2.1 

1892-97 

1.3 

1910-13 

2.2 

1897-02 

1902-07 

2.0 

1907-13 

2.3 

It  will  be  noted  that  for  Massachusetts  there 
has  been  an  increase  of  less  than  1  percent  in 
(20) 


FERTILITY 

plural  births  during  a  period  of  almost  forty 
years.  In  Vermont  the  percent  of  increase  has 
been  less  than  1,  for  a  period  of  over  fifty  years 
and  that  for  Connecticut  the  change  has  been 
negligible  during  a  period  of  about  twenty  years. 
Considering  the  data  as  a  whole,  it  indicates  that 
there  has  been  probably  no  change  one  way  or 
the  other  for  the  years  covered.  Hence,  it  must 
again  be  borne  in  mind  that  these  figures  do  not 
include  whatever  changes  there  may  have  been 
due  to  immigration  and  emigration. 

The  inability  to  nurse  children  at  the  breast  is 
often  taken  as  a  very  direct  sign  of  lack  of  physi- 
cal vigor  and  as  positively  indicative  of  approach- 
ing sterility.  Dr.  G.  Stanley  Hall  (20)  writing  in 
a  recent  number  of  the  Cosmopolitan  Magazine 
says,  that  "the  progressive  civilization  of  the  last 
hundred  years  has  worked  terribly  against  the 
health  and  the  perpetuity  of  the  whole  race.  This 
is  seen  in  the  reduced  vitality  of  the  multitude 
that  inhabit  closely  built  cities  in  the  diminished 
size  of  the  family,  in  the  incapacity  of  many  wo- 
men to  bear  and  nurse  children." 

Dr.  Talbot  also  thinks  that  the  degeneracy  of 
the  female  breast,  as  well  as  the  over-development 
of  the  male  breast,  is  a  mark  of  physical  degener- 
acy. It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  many  mothers 
of  the  present  day  do  not  nurse  their  children. 
However,  just  at  present,  there  seems  to  have 
set  in  a  tendency  which  makes  breast  nursing 
more  fashionable.  Because  mothers  of  a  few  years 
(21) 


PHYSICAL  VIGOR    OF    AMERICAN  WOMEN 

ago  did  not  nurse  their  children,  some  have  rather 
hastily  concluded  that  they  have  lost  the  ability 
to  do  so;  that  if  the  function  is  once  allowed  to 
remain  unused  it  would  atrophy  and  could  then 
never  be  regained.  This  latter  statement  seems 
doubtful  but  in  any  case  it  is  not  at  all  clearly 
proven  that  the  ability  has  been  lost  but  on  the 
contrary  there  is  evidence  that  the  ability  has 
simply  been  unrecognized. 

Von  Bunge  (22)  \\ho  has  made  an  extended 
study  of  this  subject  in  Germany  thinks  that  not 
more  than  30  to  50  percent  of  the  mothers  of 
Berlin  are  able  to  nourish  their  children  properly. 
This  decline,  however,  he  attributes  to  alcoholism, 
tuberculosis,  etc.,  and  not  directly  to  organic  in- 
ability. According  to  Woodruff  (23)  the  cause 
of  the  inability  to  nurse  their  children  in  the 
cases  of  12,000  mothers  in  New  York  who  came 
under  his  observation  in  1908,  was  lack  of  proper 
and  sufficient  food.  Dr.  Abram  Jacobi  (24)  says : 
"Our  women,  poor  and  rich,  suffer  from  no  or- 
ganic mammary  degeneration."  Dr.  Sedgwick 
(25)  finds  that  93  percent  of  the  mothers  were 
able  to  nurse  their  children  at  least  one  month 
under  proper  instructions  and  that  88  percent 
were  able  to  do  so  for  three  months,  and  that  77 
percent  for  six  months.  These  are  the  results  of 
1,501  clinic  cases.  Basing  his  calculations  on  two 
questionaires  sent  out  to  the  wives  of  American 
physicians,  he  further  concludes  that  80  percent 
of  them  were  able  to  nurse  their  children  three 
(22) 


FERTILITY 

months  or  longer.  In  a  study  made  by  a  Fall 
River  physician  (26),  it  was  found  that  there 
were  no  cases  whore  there  was  a  deficiency  of 
milk,  "although  almost  every  mother  thought  she 
could  not  nurse  her  child."  Dr.  L.  Emmett  Holt 
(28)  writing  in  the  American  Journal  of  the  Dis- 
eases of  Children,  estimates  that  not  over  25  per- 
cent of  the  well-to-do  mothers  in  New  York  are 
able  to  nurse  their  children.  Mme.  Dluskin  (29) 
thinks  that  in  Paris  only  1  percent  of  the  well- 
to-do  mothers  nurse  their  children  at  the  breast. 
Von  Bunge  (22)  in  an  attempt  to  determine 
whether  the  ability  to  nurse  children  at  the  breast 
was  in  any  way  hereditary,  made  a  very  careful 
study  of  several  groups  of  mothers  and  their  mar- 
ried daughters  in  Germany.  His  first  group  con- 
sisted of  519  cases.  The  results  were  as  follows: 

Mothers  of  these  daughters,       able  422  cases  or  99.8  % 
Mothers  of  these  daughters,  unable       1  case    or      .2  % 

In  1110  cases  where  daughters  were)  unable  to  nurse 
their  children: 

Mothers  of  these  daughters  unable,  436  cases  or  60.8  % 
Mothers  of  these  daughters,  able  281  cases  or  39.2  % 

In  703   cases  where   the  mothers  were   able   to  nurse 
their  children: 

Daughters  of  these  mothers       able  60  per  cent. 
Daughters  of  these  mothers  unable  40  per  cent. 

In  436  cases  where  the  mothers  were  unable  to  nurse 
their  children: 

Daughters  of  these  mothers  unable  99.8  per  cent. 
Daughters  of  these  mothers      able      .2  per  cent. 

The  evidence  here  plainly  is  that  the  ability  to 

nurse  children  is  of  an  hereditary  nature  but  Von 

Bunge  concludes  further  that  the  ability  to  do  so 

is  often  unrecognized  and  needs  training.    He  also 

(23) 


PHYSICAL  VIGOR    OF    AMERICAN  WOMEN 

suggests  that  even  in  cases  where  the  women  of 
earlier  generations  did  nurse  their  children,  they 
may  have  been  under-nourished  and  that  this  may 
have  contributed  to  the  excessive  infant  mortality 
of  former  years.  That  is,  babies  may  then  have 
died  from  partial  starvation  and  that  now  since 
breast  feeding  has  been  supplemented  by  artificial 
infant  food,  babies  are  better  nourished  and 
therefore  die  of  under-nourishment  less  frequent- 

ly- 

The  increase  in  the  sale  and  manufacture  of  in- 
fant foods  has  an  interesting  bearing  on  this 
question.  According  to  the  Report  of  the  Manu- 
facturers for  1912,  the  sale  of  condensed  milk  had 
risen  from  187  million  pounds  in  1900  to  495  mil- 
lion pounds  in  1910.  In  personal  letters  to  the 
author  several  of  the  manufacturers  and  import- 
ers (30)  of  infant  foods  state  that  their  business 
has  greatly  increased  within  the  last  seven  years, 
in  one  case  the  increase  being  as  much  as  500  per 
cent. 

From  all  the  evidence  here  presented,  it  appears 
that  breast  nursing  has  greatly  declined  within 
recent  years  but  there  is  no  conclusive  evidence 
that  the  ability  to  do  so  has  decreased.  More- 
over, it  seems  probable  that  changes  in  fashion 
making  nursing  more  respectable  and  the  wider 
realization  of  the  value  of  exercising  this  func- 
tion, will  greatly  increase  its  prevalence. 

POTENTIAL  FECUNDITY 

If  there  is  no  marked  tendency  towards  pro- 

(24) 


FERTILITY 

gressive  organic  infertility,  as  shown  above,  then 
the  decline  in  the  apparent  fertility  as  shown  by 
the  falling  birth-rate,  must  be  due  to  other  fac- 
tors. As  already  indicated,  it  may  be  due  to  a  de- 
cline in  the  potential  fecundity,  i.  e.,  to  marriages 
taking  place  under  conditions  in  which  it  would 
be  impossible  to  exhibit  as  high  a  degree  ol  fer- 
tility as  formerly.  Among  these  conditions,  school 
life,  which  delays  the  time  of  marriage,  and  ven- 
ereal disease,  doubtless  are  very  important. 

It  is  a  well  established  fact,  that  fecundity  is 
inversely  proportionate  to  the  age  of  the  woman, 
declining  somewhat  after  the  age  of  twenty-five, 
being  greatest  about  nineteen  or  twenty.  Dr, 
Hankins  (31)  finds  that  the  age  of  marriage  for 
the  whole  population  at  large  has  been  increasing 
since  about  the  year  1900  but  he  shows  that  statis- 
tical evidence  seems  to  minimize  its  significance 
and  that  no  large  part  of  the  decrease  in  the  num- 
ber of  births  can  be  attributed  to  this. 

Hall  and  Smith  (18)  working  on  the  graduates 
of  Harvard  and  other  eastern  colleges,  found  that 
the  birth-rate  among  them  was  less  than  for  the 
population  at  large.  Reckoned  per  father,  the 
number  of  children  of  Harvard  graduates  fell 
during  the  decade  1880-90  from  3.44  to  2.22  and 
during  the  next  decade  from  2.22  to  1.92.  But 
with  the  increasing  age  at  marriage  for  those  who 
spend  four  years  in  college  this  would  not  neces- 
sarily indicate  any  increase  in  organic  infertility. 
Indeed,  if  viewed  in  the  light  of  studies  made  on 
(25) 


PHYSICAL  VIGOR    OF    AMERICAN  WOMEN 

other  college  women,  it  indicates  nothing  more 
than  infertility  due  to  an  increased  age  and  a  de- 
sire for  higher  standards  of  personal  comfort. 

There  is  a  common  belief  that  intellectual  pur- 
suits and  school  life  are  particularly  unfavorable 
to  both  the  physical  vigor  of  women  and  to  their 
fertility.  The  following  studies  tend  to  show  the 
fallacy  of  such  belief.  One  of  the  latest  studies 
along  this  line  is  that  of  Mrs.  Hollingsworth  (32) 
who  quotes  evidence  to  show  that  school  life  is 
not  particularly  injurious  to  women.  John  Dew- 
ey,  she  points  out,  made  a  study  of  290  girls  as 
long  ago  as  1886  among  whom  he  found  only  3 
percent  who  had  any  real  disturbances  in  their 
functional  periodicity  and  many  were  even  im- 
proved, all  but  4  percent  being  in  better  health 
during  their  residence  in  college  than  they  were 
after  graduation.  Mr.  G.  A.  Preston  (33),  study- 
ing the  same  question,  found  that  at  Amherst 
College,  out  of  over  200  girls  only  2.75  percent 
dropped  out  of  school  as  the  result  of  ill  health 
as  compared  with  2.85  percent  for  the  boys. 

Observations  (34)  made  on  2,000  girls  in  finish- 
ing schools  and  colleges  in  America,  showed  that 
60  percent  had  some  rather  serious  functional 
disturbance  but  that  it  dated,  not  from  entry  into 
school,  but  from  puberty.  However  those  who  re- 
mained in  school  for  four  years  and  submitted  to 
four  yearly  examinations,  30  percent  showed  a 
marked  improvement,  30  percent  were  uninflu- 
enced, while  40  percent  were  undecided.  In  the 
(26) 


FERTILITY 

case  of  100  Oberlin  College  girls  (35),  in  1899,  48 
reported  that  their  health  since  entering  school 
was  the  same  as  before,  43  reported  a  decided  im- 
provement, and  9  were  not  so  well  as  before. 
Eighty  had  gained  in  muscular  strength,  12  had 
lost,  98  had  gained  in  lung  capacity  while  2  had 
lost. 

Mrs.  Henry  Sedgwick  (36)  as  far  back  as  1890 
made  a  study  of  the  health  of  the  women  students 
at  Oxford  and  concluded  that  they  married  later 
than  their  sisters  who  did  not  attend  college  but 
found  that  their  health  was  as  good.  Her  studies 
included  84  families.  She  found  the  average  age 
of  students  at  marriage  to  be  26.7  years  and  that 
of  their  sisters  25.6.  She  concludes  that  "we  may 
say  with  confidence  that  there  is  nothing  in  a  uni- 
versity education  at  all  especially  injurious  to  the 
constitution  of  woman  or  involving  any  greater 
strain  than  she  can  ordinarily  bear  without  in- 
jury. As  mothers  of  healthy  families,  we  have 
seen  that  students  are  more  satisfactory  than 
their  sisters. " 

If  intellectal  pursuits  tend  to  induce  organic 
sterility,  the  great  increase  in  the  attendance  of 
women  in  high  schools,  colleges,  and  technical 
schools  would  present  a  grave  problem  from  this 
standpoint  alone  but  from  the  above  it  seems  that 
normal  functional  activity  is  not  disturbed  by 
school  life. 

Another  factor  contributing  to  reduced  fecund- 
ity is  venereal  disease.  If  it  is  as  wide-spread  as 
(27) 


PHYSICAL  VIGOR    OF    AMERICAN  WOMEN 

is  estimated  by  some  writers,  it  would  certainly 
have  a  very  marked  effect  upon  the  birth-rate  and 
might,  moreover,  contribute  in  time  to  a  reduced 
physical  vigor. 

Erb  (37)  estimates  that  from  10  to  12  percent 
of  the  whole  adult  population  of  Berlin  is  syphil- 
etic.  Le  Noir  (38)  estimates  that  13  percent  of 
the  population  of  Paris  is  similarly  infected.  Lour- 
nier  (39)  of  the  British  Venereal  Commission,  in 
a  Wasserman  survey  of  500  healthy  English  work- 
ingmen,  found  that  9.2  percent  gave  a  positive  re- 
action. Barrett  (40)  in  Melbourne  in  like  manner 
found  14.4  percent  syphiletic.  It  is  also  estimated 
that  from  7  to  12  percent  of  the  U.  S.  army  is 
syphiletic  but  Nichols  (41)  thinks  this  is  too  high 
and  places  it  at  5  percent  and  thinks  that  the  per- 
cent is  no  higher  here  than  for  the  male  popula- 
tion of  the  United  States  generally. 

If  it  is  true  that  five  times  as  many  males  have 
it  as  females  (42),  then  something  over  3  percent 
of  the  entire  population  is  infected  with  syphilis. 
Furthermore,  it  is  contracted  mostly  during  ages 
of  otherwise  greatest  fecundity,  the  average  max- 
imum age  for  men  being  from  22  to  25  years 
and  for  women  from  about  18  to  22. 

Other  estimates  of  the  percentage  of  infected 
population  vary.  One  estimate  (43)  puts  the  per- 
centage for  the  United  States  at  from  5  to  18  per- 
cent. This  estimate  is  furthermore  made  that  60 
percent  of  the  men  of  the  United  States  have 
either  gonorrhoea  or  syphilis.  Another  writer 
(28) 


FERTILITY 

(44)  estimates  that  at  least  1  out  of  every  3  males 
in  the  United  States  suffers  from  some  form  of 
venereal  disease. 

The  effect  which  such  a  wide-spread  infection 
would  have  on  fertility  would  be  very  marked. 
Jacques  Bertillon  (45)  estimates  that  from  10  to 
13  percent  of  the  French  marriages  are  sterile. 
Neisser  regards  gonorrhoea  as  responsible  for  45 
percent  of  all  sterile  marriages.  Dr.  Prince  Mor- 
row (46)  thinks  that  some  form  of  venereal  dis- 
ease is  responsible  for  as  much  as  50  or  75  per- 
cent in  sterility  in  marriage  and  that  at  least  one 
out  of  every  seven  marriages  in  the  United  States 
is  sterile.  Another  estimate  (47)  is  that  45  per- 
cent of  sterility  in  marriage  and  that  at  least  one 

Even  if  one  accepts  with  confidence  the  lower 
of  these  estimates,  it  is  certain  that  venereal  in- 
fection is  a  very  widespread  source  of  decreased 
fecundity  and  this  may  be  taken  as  a  prominent 
cause  in  the  decline  of  the  birth-rate.  To  be  sure, 
this  infection,  does  at  the  same  time  affect  the 
physical  vigor  of  our  population  unfavorably  but 
at  present  one  can  not  but  believe  that  its  effect 
upon  fecundity  is  greater  than  upon  the  physical 
vigor,  especially  in  the  case  of  women  who  are 
less  infected  than  men. 

CONTROLLED  FERTILITY 

This  is  another  important  factor  in  birth  de- 
cline.   It  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  estimate  just 
what  part  this  plays  in  the  rather  world-wide  de- 
cline.    For  various  reasons,  married  people  will 
(29) 


PHYSICAL  VIGOR    OF   AMERICAN  WOMEN 

not  furnish  information  which  would  make  possi- 
ble reliable  conclusions  here.  However,  some 
studies  have  been  made  by  questionaire  methods 
and  otherwise  which  have  furnished  some  inter- 
esting data. 

Professor  Cattel  (48)  investigated  the  decline 
in  the  size  of  the  family  among  the  graduates  of 
three  leading  eastern  universities  by  means  of  a 
questionaire.  He  found  that  their  families  at  the 
beginning  of  this  century  consisted  of  5.6  children 
and  of  2.5  or  of  2  in  1875  and  that  at  that  rate  of 
decrease,  the  families  would  be  childless  by  the 
year  1934.  He  further  found  that  out  of  461 
leading  scientific  men,  167  did  not  willingly  limit 
their  offspring,  285  did  voluntarily  limit  it,  and 
those  who  were  childless  were  so  from  choice  in 
about  two-thirds  of  the  cases.  He  further  adds 
that  social  control  of  births  is  necessary  if  we  are 
to  maintain  our  physical  vigor,  for  in  the  struggle 
for  existence,  it  is  better  to  bring  two  strong  chil- 
dren into  the  world  than  twelve  weak  ones.  More- 
over, he  says,  "It  is  evident  that  a  limit  of  off- 
spring is  essential  to  the  conditions  of  the  evolu- 
tion of  a  higher  race."  Geddes  and  Thompson 
(49)  in  England  say  that  "the  practice  of  some 
form  of  Neo-Malthusianism  is  very  prevalent 
among  persons  of  intelligence,"  and  writers  are 
universally  agreed  that  this  is  an  important  fac- 
tor in  the  decline  of  the  birth-rate  generally. 

Reviewing  the  evidence  brought  forward  in  this 
chapter,  it  seems  evident  that  the  decline  in  the 
(30) 


FERTILITY 

birth-rate  for  the  women  of  America  at  least,  is 
not  due  to  any  progressive  organic  infertility  but 
rather  to  what  may  be  called  controlled  fertility. 
The  modern  woman  of  America  seems  to  be  un- 
willing to  be  longer  under  the  control  of  the  tyr- 
annies of  certain  biological  laws,  but  rather  de- 
sires to  take  advantage  of  them  for  her  own  good. 
She  seems  to  be  reaching  a  plane,  where  instead 
of  yielding  both  her  strength  and  her  own  indi- 
viduality to  her  offspring  alone,  she  desires  to 
use  them  for  the  advancement  of  her  own  physi- 
cal well-being.  No  longer  is  she  willing  to  pay 
her  whole  debt  to  the  race  by  bringing  forth  chil- 
dren in  pain,  but  is  seeking  to  offer  in  part  pay- 
ment an  increase  in  her  own  being.  If  so,  then 
the  decline  in  her  apparent  fertility  is  to  be  coi'- 
related  with  an  increase  in  her  physical  vigor  and 
not  with  a  lack  of  it.  If  this  interpretation  is 
correct,  then  it  should  show  itself  in  increasing 
body  proportions  and  an  increasing  life  span. 
These  will  be  the  subjects  for  the  next  chapter. 


(31) 


CHAPTER  III 
Longevity  and  Anthropological  Measurements 

One  of  the  best  indications  of  physical  vigor  is 
survival  power  which  tends  to  prolong  life. 
Strong,  vigorous  people  usually  live  longer  than 
those  who  are  weak  for  their  resistance  to  disease 
is  greater.  Indeed,  if  there  were  some  accurate 
method  of  determining  whether,  under  normal  cir- 
cumstances, the  span  of  life  was  lengthening,  it 
would  furnish  very  conclusive  evidence  that  the 
physical  vigor  was  on  the  rise.  The  following 
table  calculated  from  the  Reports  of  the  Federal 
Census  (50)  for  the  various  years,  exhibits  the 
percentage  of  white  females  to  the  total  number 
of  white  females  for  the  different  age  periods : 

Years  Age  Period                         % 

1860  10-15                                 11.6 

1910  11.9 

1860  40-50                                   8.0 

1910  9.1 

1860  50-60                                   5.3 

1910  6.3 

1860  60-70                                   2.1 

1910  3.6 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  percentages  of  white 
women  in  all  the  age  periods  are  relatively  larger 
for  the  year  1910  than  for  the  year  1860.  More- 
over, the  ratios  are  larger  for  the  later  periods  of 
life,  showing  an  increase  in  longevity.  Of  course, 
infant  mortality  has  been  greatly  reduced  in  re- 
cent years  by  improved  methods  in  hygiene  but  it 
will  be  noted  that  the  greatest  gain  was  not  in  the 
(32) 


ANTHROPOLOGICAL  MEASUREMENTS 

early  years,  but  in  the  later  ones,  being  greatest 
for  ihe  age  period  60-70  years. 

Calculations  based  on  the  Reports  of  the  Cen- 
sus, show  that  the  percentage  of  women  of  child- 
bearing  age,  15  to  50  years,  has  also  increased. 
This  also  notes  an  increased  longevity. 

Years  Percent 

1860  20 

1870  24 

1910  26 

Longevity  tables  based  on  records  kept  for 
America  are  not  available  in  years  early  enough 
to  be  of  value  in  this  study  but  the  following  table 
for  England  and  Wales  kindly  furnished  by  one 
of  the  large  life  insurance  companies  of  America 
(51),  exhibits  the  conditions  there. 

Age              1851-1860  1881-90  1891-1900 

0  42.15  46.67  47,72 

5  50.86  54.27  55.69 

15  44.12  46.40  47.51 

25  37.37  38.51  39.27 

35  30.77  31.08  31.42 

45  24.12  24.01  24.08 

55  17.30  17.12  17.13 

65  11.19  11.17  11.18 

75                         6.45  6.62  6.66 

85                         3.48  3.69  3.81 

95                         1.81  1.97  2.11 

This  table  exhibits  what  is  commonly  known  as 
the  "expectation  of  life."  Now  the  expectation 
of  life  at  any  age  is  the  mean  after-lifetime  of 
persons  vtfro  reach  that  age.  Thus,  persons  who, 
in  the  period  1851-60,  reached  the  age  of  25 
(33) 


PHYSICAL   VIGOR   OF   AMERICAN   WOMEN 

could  expect  to  live,  on  the  average,  at  least 
37.37  years  more.  In  the  period  1881-90  per- 
sons reaching  that  age  could  expect  to  live  38.51 
years  more  and  in  the  period  1891  to  1900,  38.27 
years  more.  Tables  similar  to  the  above  for  the 
males  of  England  and  Wales  show  an  increase  also 
in  the  expectation  of  life,  but  on  the  whole  much 
less  than  for  females. 

Table  showing  the  mean  annual  death  rate  for 
females  in  England  and  Wales  for  the  different 
age  periods  from  the  year  1850  to  the  year  1900. 

Age              1851-1860  1881-1890  1891-1900 

0  62.7  51.9  52.8 

5  8.4  5.3  4.4 

10  5.1  3.1  2.6 

15  7.4  4.4  3.7 

20  8.5  5.5  4.5 

25  9.9  7.4  6.1 

35  12.2  10.6  9.6 

45  15.2  15.1  14.7. 

55  27.0  28.5  28.4 

65  58.7  60.4  60.7 

75  134.5  130.6  130.6 

85  288.9  270.8  261.4 

A  study  of  this  table  will  show  that  the  death- 
rate  for  almost  all  the  different  age  periods  has 
shown  a  steady  and  persistent  fall  during  the 
past  fifty  years.  Professor  Irving  Fisher  (52) 
quotes  figures  to  show  that  results  of  the  same 
order  obtain  for  practically  all  the  states  of  west- 
ern Europe  and  adds  that  "it  is  noticeable  that  in 
practically  all  cases  improvement  is  more  among 
females  than  males.  This  is  one  expression  of 
progress  which  womankind  is  now  making  in  all 
lands."  Thus  a  study  from  the  two  foregoing 
(34) 


ANTHROPOLOGICAL  MEASUREMENTS 

tables  will  show  that,  estimated  from  their  expec- 
tation of  life  and  of  their  longevity,  the  physical 
vigor  of  women  generally  is  on  the  rise.  It  may 
be  also  noted  that  in  the  Orient  (52),  with  its  per- 
fectly enormous  birth-rate,  the  expectation  of  life 
is  slight  and  the  death-rate  has  probably  been  sta- 
tionary for  centuries. 

Another  indication  that  woman's  physical  well- 
being  is  advancing,  is  the  tendency  to  wear  cer- 
tain articles  of  clothing  larger,  more  comfortable, 
and  therefore  more  hygienic  than  formerly.  In 
attempting  to  measure  this  tendency,  the  author 
sent  out  some  personal  letters  to  some  of  the  prin- 
cipal manufacturers  of  women's  shoes,  gloves,  and 
corsets,  asking  whether  they  have  noticed  such  a 
tendency  within  the  past  twenty  or  twenty-five 
years.  Their  answers  were  as  follows : 

WOMEN'S  SHOES 

Two  questions  were  asked  in  regard  to  the  size 
of  the  shoes : 

1  What  is  the  most  common  size  of  women's 
shoe  now? 

2  What  was  the  most  common  size   twenty 
years  ago? 

The  first  manufacturer  (53)  replied  that  there 
was  a  tendency  in  their  trade  for  shoes  to  be 
longer  but  no  wider.  This,  it  was  said,  gave  the 
foot  more  room  and  brought  it  further  back  from 
the  box  and  thus  had  virtually  the  effect  of  mak- 
ing it  wider. 

(35) 


PHYSICAL  VIGOR   OF   AMERICAN  WOMEN 

The  second  manufacturer  (54)  gave  practically 
the  same  answer  and  also  furnished  the  follow- 
ing table  showing  the  comparative  number  of 
shoes  made  in  the  width  "C". 

Size  No.  Pairs 

3  25 

4  37 
4%  67 

5  67 
5%  73 

6  57 
6%  42 

7  27 
7%  18 

8  9 
8%  4 

9  3 

The  third  manufacturer  (55)  thought  that  the 
prevailing  size  now  is  "5"  and  that  it  was  the 
same  20  years  ago  but  that  now  the  shoes  are  be- 
ing made  longer  in  the  last.  His  comparative 
numbers  follow: 

Size  No.  of  Pairs 

2%  1% 

3  2% 
3%  23-4 

4  43-4 
4%  5% 

5  63-4 
5%  5% 

6  33-4 
6%  1 3-4 

7  1% 
7%  0^4 

8  0*4 

The  fourth  manufacturer  (56)  said  that  in  his 
judgment,  the  most  common  size  now  is  "5%" 
and  that  20  years  ago  it  was  "5".    Taking  these 
(36) 


ANTHROPOLOGICAL  MEASUREMENTS 

four  answers  as  a  whole,  there  seems  to  be  a  ten- 
dency on  the  part  of  women  to  wear  larger  shoes. 

WOMEN'S  GLOVES 

In  answer  to  similar  questions  in  regards  to 
women's  gloves,  the  first  manufacturer  (57)  re- 
plied that  the  size  varies  with  the  years  but  "the 
impression  that  women  now  are  wearing  more 
comfortably  fitting  gloves  than  formerly,  is  cer- 
tainly borne  out  by  the  facts  and  we  today  are 
cutting  all  our  gloves  on  broader  lines  than  we 
did  twenty  years  ago. ' '  The  second  manufacturer 
(58)  in  replying  bore  out  the  above  statement  and 
added  that  this  was  especially  true  in  the  cheaper 
grade  of  gloves, " '  7  "  now  being  the  most  common 
size. 

WOMEN'S  CORSETS 

But  two  manufacturers  of  corsets  replied  but 
they  were  among  the  largest  concerns  of  this  kind 
in  the  country.  The  first  (59)  gave  the  most  com- 
mon size  corset  in  1915  as  25  to  27  inch  waist 
measure  and  that  for  1914  as  21  to  23  inches.  The 
second  manufacturer  (60)  said  that  "up  to  ten 
years  ago  the  prevailing  sizes  were,  18,  19,  and  20 
inches  with  but  few  above  26  inches  in  the  waist. ' ' 
Today,  it  was  further  said,  there  are  practically 
no  corsets  sold  in  size  18  and  very  few  in  19  or 
20  and  that  a  woman  who  would  then  have  bought 
a  number  18  would  now  buy  a  22,  the  sizes  most 
in  demand  being  22  to  28.  This  data  is  meagre 
and  doubtless  would  vary  somewhat  with  the 
(37) 


PHYSICAL  VIGOR    OF    AMERICAN  WOMEN 

years,  but  both  of  the  above  manufacturers  are 
certain  that  the  old  "hour-glass  figure "  is  gone 
never  to  return. 

ANTHROPOLOGICAL  MEASUREMENTS 

The  evidence,  however,  to  which  most  signifi- 
cance will  be  attached  in  this  study,  is  the  mea- 
surements made  of  the  Freshmen  girls  of  five  col- 
leges, viz.,  200  entering  Wellesley  (61)  in  1881, 
200  entering  in  1901  and  200  entering  in  1915 ;  50 
entering  Mt.  Holyoke  (63)  in  1885,  50  entering  in 
1890,  50  entering  in  1895,  50  entering  in  1900,  50 
entering  in  1905,  50  entering  in  1910,  and  50  en- 
tering in  1915;  50  entering  Smith  College  (62)  in 
1889,  50  entering  in  1897,  50  entering  in  1900,  50 
entering  in  1905,  50  entering  in  1910,  and  50  en- 
tering in  1915 ;  200  entering  the  University  of  Ne- 
braska (64)  in  1892,  200  entering  in  1903,  and  200 
entering  in  1915;  and  1600  entering  Oberlin  Col- 
lege (65)  during  the  period  1886-1903,  and  1600 
entering  during  the  period  1909-15. 

Tables  exhibiting  the  averages  of  these  meas- 
urements for  all  five  colleges  follow : 


(38) 


ANTHROPOLOGICAL  MEASUREMENTS 


Arithmetical  Averages  for  the  Various  Physical  Measure- 
ments of  200  Girls  Entering  Wellesley  College  in  the 
Years  1881-4,  200  Entering  in  the  Year  1901, 
200  Entering  in  the  Year  1915 

Year                                     1881-4  1901  1915 

Age  19.2  18  18 

Weight  118.5  119  117.4 

Height  158  161.1  161.3 

Lung  Capacity  159.2  159.8  161.4 

Strength  Eight  Forearm      24.4  24.1  25.2 

Strength  Left  Forearm       20.8  22  22.2 

Strength  Back  61.7  67.2 

Strength  Legs                        84.8  62.2  84 

Chest  Depth                           21.7  24.8  26.4 

Vital  Index                             13.4  13.4  13.8 

Goldstein's  Index                  13.7  15.5  16 


Arithmetical  Averages  of  the  Various  Physical  Measure- 
ments of  50  Girls  Entering  Mr.  Holyoke  College  in  the 
Year  1885,  50  Entering  in  1890,  50  Entering  in 
1895,   50  Entering  in  1900,   50  Entering  in 
1905,  50  Entering  in  1910,  and  50  Enter- 
ing in  1915. 


Year 
Age 
Weight 
Height 
Lung  Cap'y 


1885    1890 
20.8     19.9 
112.8 

159.2  160.2 
164      160.2 


Strength  E.  Frm.  20  21.7 

Strength   Back       61.3  70 

Chest  Girth  81.1  80.6 

Vital  Index  14.6 

Goldstein's  Ind.     50.9  50.3 


1895 

18.9 

110.3 

159.3 

159.9 

19.2 

49.3 

79.7 

13.6 

51.2 


1900 

18.5 

110.8 

165.1 

159.9 

29.2 

48.1 

79.9 

13.6 

51.2 


1905 

19.1 

117.6 

160.8 

27.2 
65.2 
82.9 
14.9 
51.5 


1910 

19.1 

119.4 

160.7 

164.9 

29.7 

63 

84.2 

13.9 

51.4 


1915 

18.7 

117.9 

159.1 

162.5 

28.8 

71.3 

81.5 

13.7 

51.3 


(39) 


PHYSICAL  VIGOR  OF  AMERICAN  WOMEN 


Arithmetical  Averages  of  the  Various  Physical  Measure- 
ments of  50  Girls  Entering  Smith  College  in  the  year 
1889,  50  Entefring  in  1897,  50  Entering  in  1900, 
50  Entering  in  1905,  50  Entering  in  1910, 

and  50  Entering  in  1915 
Year  1889      1897      1900      1905      1910      1915 


Age 
Weight 
Height 
Waist 
Lung  Capacity 
Strength  E.  F'm. 
Strength  Back 
Chest  Girth  (full) 
Vital  Index 
Goldstein's  Index 

21.5 
114 
159.1 
62.5 
140 
19.8 
71.9 
80.5 
12.6 
50.6 

18.7 
115.7 
162.1 
61.5 
156 
23.6 
60.7 
79.8 
13.1 
49.2 

18.4 
116.1 
162.4 
60.8 
164.2 
23 
68.1 
80.9 
14.1 
49.8 

17.3 
120.3 
160.2 
58.5 
174.1 
23.2 
96 
84.4 
14.5 
52.7 

123.7 
163 
63.5 
167 
25.5 
78.2 
84.8 
13.6 
52 

18.6 
122 
161.5 
61.5 
162.9 
24.9 
77.3 
83.7 
13.3 
51.8 

Arithmetical  Averages  of  the  Various  Physical  Measure- 
ments of  200  Girls  Entering1  the  University  of  Ne- 
braska in1  the  Year  1892,  200  Entering  in  1903, 
and  200  Entering  in  1915 

Year  1892  1903  1915 

Age  19.6  19.6  19.4 

Weight  110.1  115.7  123.6 

Height  157.8  160.5  160.1 

Lung  Capacity  151  148  164 

Chest   Girth    (not   full)        74.7  79.6  79 

Vital  Index  13.7  12.8  13.2 

Goldstein's  Index  47.5  49.5  49.4 


(40) 


ANTHROPOLOGICAL  MEASUREMENTS 


Arithmetical  Averages  of  the  Physical  Measurements  of 
1.600  Girls  Entering  Oberlin  College  During  the  Per- 
iod 1886  to  1903,  and  1,600  Entering  During  the 
Period  1909  to  1915 


Age 

Weight 

Height 

Lung  Capacity 

Strength,  Back 

Strength  Right  Arm 

Strength,  Legs 

Chest  Girth  (not  full) 

Vital  Index 

Goldstein's  Index 

Arithmetical  Averages  of  the  Foregoing  Tables,  which 
includes  the  Physical  Measurements  of  300  Fresh- 
men Girls  in  Wellesly  College  for  a  period  of  33 
years,  350  Freshman  Girls  in  Mt.  Holyoks  College 
during  a  period  of  30  years,  300  Freshman  Girls  in 
Smith  College  during  a  period  of  26  years,  600  Fresh- 
Man  Girls  in  Nebraska  University  during  a  period 
of  23  years  and  3,200  Freshman  Girls  in  Oberlin  Col- 
lege during  a  period  of,  29  years.  All  the  records 
were  divided  into  an  earlier  and  later  half  and  these 
two  averaged  against  each  other. 


1886-1903 

1909-1915 

19.3 

19.2 

112.4 

117.2 

159 

160.8 

141.3 

157 

119 

137.3 

47.2 

61.7 

168.6 

147.9 

75.2 

79.8 

12.5 

13.3 

47.1 

50.1 

Colleges 

Wellesley 

Holyoke 

Nebraska 

Smith 

Oberlin 

Periods 

1st      2d 

1st      2d 

1st     2d 

1st    I2d 

1st     2d 

Age 

18.6    18.0 

19,5    18.8 

19.6    18.5 

19.5   184 

19.3   19.2 

Weight 
Height 

118.7  118.2 
159.5  161.2 

111,3  116.4 
158.7  159.1 

112.9  119.6 
159.1  160.3 

114.4  122.0 
161.2  161.6 

112.4  118.2 
159.0  160.8 

Chest  Girth 

76.9    840 

80.3    82.1 

77.1    78.3 

80.4   64.3 

75.9   79.7 

Lung  Capacity 
Vital  Index 

159  5  160.6 
13.4    13.6 

156.5  163.0 
13.9    14.0 

149.0  156.0 
13.2    13.0 

152.0  167.9 
13.2    14.8 

141.3  157.0 
12.5    13.5 

Goldstein  Index 

48.2    52,1 

50.9    51.3 

48.5   49.9 

49.8   51.3 

47.1    50.1 

The  last  table  is  worth  studying  with  some  care 
for  it  shows  the  arithmetical  averages  of  all  the 
different  groups.    It  will  be  observed  that 
(41) 


PHYSICAL  VIGOR   OF    AMERICAN  WOMEN 

1.  For  all  five  colleges  there  has  been  a  slight 
decline  in  the  age  of  entrance,  the  average  now 
being  not  far  from   19   years.    After  this   age, 
changes  in  the  essential  measurements  such  as 
vital  index,  height,  lung  capacity,  and  Goldstein's 
index,  are  exceedingly  slight. 

2.  The  weight,  with  the  single  exception  of 
Wellesley,  shows  also  a  slight  gain.    This  of  itself 
has  no  beneficial  significance  but  if  it  is  in  excess, 
might  indicate  a  detrimental  trend.    It  is  possible 
that  it  is  correlated  with  more  and  better  food, 
and  more  exercise  in  the  open  air. 

3.  The  height  in  all  cases  shows  a  slight  gain 
and  while  it  is  small,  yet  it  would  seem  as  if  any 
increase  in  height  would  be  significant  (66).     It 
has  always  been  taken  as  a  test  of  military  fitness. 
Ripley  (67)  says  that  "the  relation  between  stat- 
ure and  health  is  brought  to  a  concrete  expression 
in  the  armies  of  Europe  through  a  rejection  of  all 
recruits   for   service   who   fall   below   a    certain 
height,  generally  about  5  feet.    Other  things  be- 
ing equal,  a  goodly  stature  in  youth  implies  a 
surplus  of  energy  over  and  above  the  amount  re- 
quisite merely  to  sustain  life.    Hence  it  follows, 
more  often  than  otherwise,  that  a  tall  population 
implies    a    relatively    healthy    one."     Moreover, 
there  is  evidence  that  tallness  in  children  is  cor- 
related with  success  in  school.    Dr.  Burnham  (68) 
gives  the  following  data:  among  8,000  children 
examined  of  the  same  age, 

(42) 


ANTHROPOLOGICAL  MEASUREMENTS 

those  105  cm  in  height  none  were  perfect  in  health 
those  110  cm  in  height  17%  were  perfect  in  health 
those  115  cm  in  height  20%  were  perfect  in  health 
those  120  cm  in  height  38%  were  perfect  in  health 
over  120  cm  in  height  45%  were  perfect  in  health 

This  plainly  indicates  the  importance  of  height 
as  a  factor  in  physical  vigor. 

4.  It  will  be  noted  that  in  all  cases  the  chest 
girth  has  increased.    In  the  case  of  Wellesley,  the 
increase  is  as  much  as  7  cm.  Moreover,  it  will  be 
seen  that  there  is  no  uniformity  among  the  dif- 
ferent groups  for  this  measurement.    This  may  be 
due  to  the  methods  of  taking  the  measurements 
for  sometimes  the  chest  is  partially  expanded  and 
sometimes  fully  relaxed.    Also  the  styles  of  dress 
prevailing  at  different  times  may  not  have  been 
without  some  influence.     The  significance  of  the 
chest  girth  will  be  discussed  under  Goldstein's 
index. 

5.  The  measurements  of  the  lung  capacity  are 
subject  to  the  same  variations  as  were  found  in 
taking  the  chest  measurements.     Its  importance 
will  be  discussed  under  the  vital  index. 

6.  The  vital  index   (69)   is  a  very  important 
physical  index  for  it  shows  the  relation  between 
the  amount  of  oxygen  supplied  to  the  tissues  and 
the  amount  of  oxidizable  tissue,  and  is  found  by 
dividing  the  vital  capacity  of  the  lungs  by  the 
weight  of  the  body.    If  then,  the  vital  capacity  of 
the  lungs  be   large   in  proportion  to   the   body 
weight,  the  body  will  have  a  good  supply  of  oxy- 

(43) 


PHYSICAL  VIGOR    OF    AMERICAN  WOMEN 

gen,  metabolism  will  be  vigorous,  and  the  resist- 
ance to  disease  will  be  high  but  if  the  proportions 
be  reversed,  then  the  metalbolism  will  be  more 
sluggish.  Now  it  is  to  be  noticed  that  four  out 
of  the  five  colleges,  there  has  been  a  change  in 
this  index,  and  although  small,  it  has  been  all  in 
one  direction,  that  is,  it  has  constantly  and  per- 
sistently increased.  This  can  have  but  one  inter- 
pretation, namely,  that  there  has  been  an  increase 
in  the  physical  vigor  of  the  later  groups  over  that 
of  the  former  ones. 

7.  Goldstein's  index  is  of  like  importance.  It 
is  the  chest-girth-height  index  and  is  found  by 
multiplying  the  chest  girth  by  100  and  dividing 
by  the  height.  The  chest  circumference  has  always 
received  considerable  attention  and  has  always 
been  regarded  as  a  test  for  military  fitness.  The 
amount  it  exceeds  half  the  height  has  been  taken 
as  a  test  of  physical  vigor.  According  to  DeBusk 
(70)  there  is  an  inverse  proportion  between  the 
amount  the  chest  circumference  exceeds  half  the 
height  and  the  rate  of  infant  mortality.  Now  it 
will  be  seen  from  the  last  table,  that  in  all  cases 
where  it  was  possible  to  compute  it,  Goldstein's 
index  has  increased. 

Taking  the  data  of  the  colleges  as  a  whole,  they 
show  an  upward  trend  within  the  past  four  dec- 
ades. This  is  synchronous  with  the  release  of 
woman  from  excessive  household  duties  and  child- 
bearing.  Also,  about  this  time  there  was  a  notice- 
able increase  in  the  number  of  high  schools  in  the 
(44) 


ANTHROPOLOGICAL  MEASUREMENTS 

country  and  the  Reports  of  the  United  States 
Commissioner  of  schools  show  that  the  girls  en- 
tered these  in  larger  numbers,  in  many  cases  out- 
numbering the  boys.  This  is  another  indication 
that  the  surplus  energy  of  the  younger  women  of 
America,  as  soon  as  opportunity  presented  itself, 
is  being  expended  in  increasing  the  physical  vigor. 
Moreover,  while  the  younger  women  are  thus  in- 
creasing in  height,  chest,  girth,  and  vital  index, 
women  of  all  ages,  according  to  the  data  in  the 
earlier  part  of  this  chapter,  are  showing  a  reduced 
mortality  and  a  higher  expectation  of  life.  These 
are  certainly  most  significant  indications  of  wo- 
man's increasing  physical  vigor. 


(45) 


CHAPTER  IV 
Interest  and  Particiation  in  Athletics 

That  the  nature  of  a  people's  sports  is  a  rather 
sure  index  of  their  physical  vigor  is  well  known 
Professor  Fetter  (71)  says  that,  ''The  choice  of 
sports  and  the  temperance  in  their  pursuit  are 
among  the  surest  tests  of  the  wisdom  in  men  and 
societies.  A  love  of  vigorous  play,  no  less  than 
the  power  of  sustained  work,  marks  the  dominant 
and  progressive  peoples  of  the  earth."  When 
physical  vigor  declines,  so  does  the  interest  in 
sports  decline.  When  the  Greeks  were  at  their 
best,  so  were  the  Olympic  Games  at  the  highest 
point  of  their  excellence,  and  during  the  palmy 
days  of  Rome,  the  arena  was  the  scene  of  sturdy 
and  vigorous,  even  if  savage,  sports  while  in  her 
declining  days  these  deteriorated  into  the  circus 
and  into  unspeakable  cruelties. 

Vigorous  people  engage  in  vigorous  play.  Spen- 
cer, as  already  pointed  out,  held  that  play  in  the 
young  is  to  release  surplus  energy.  Karl  Groos 
(73)  held  that  play  is  getting  ready  for  the  activ- 
ities of  after  life.  Stanley  Hall  and  others  think 
that  play  represents  inherent  motor  reactions  but 
all  three  theories  assume  a  close  correlation  with 
physical  vigor.  This  is  suggested  by  the  rise  in 
(46) 


PARTICIPATION  IN  ATHLETICS 

the  strenuousness  of  the  child's  play  as  he  ad- 
vances in  years.  Gulick  (72)  notes  this  and  points 
out  that  in  infancy,  play  is  mild  in  form  but  as 
the  child  increases  in  years  and  vigor,  its  play 
tends  to  become  more  strenuous  until  at  last  it 
culminates  in  such  games  as  boxing,  foot-ball, 
wrestling,  etc. 

If  this  be  true,  then  the  women  of  America 
have  made  notable  progress  in  their  physical 
vigor  within  recent  years  for  they  have  entered 
increasingly  into  athletics.  This  shows  not  only 
a  vigor  of  body  but  a  change  of  mental  attitude  as 
well  for  it  bespeaks  the  breaking  down  of  many 
useless  and  outgrown  taboos  in  reference  to  her 
mode  of  dress  and  freer  bodily  movements.  Her 
engaging  in  mixed  tennis  matches,  etc.,  not  only 
gives  indication  of  enlarging  physical  powers  but 
of  the  passing  of  much  former  prudery,  this  lat- 
ter being  probably  as  great  a  gain  as  the  former. 

This  increase  in  woman's  interest  in  athletics 
is  also  to  be  correlated  with  her  release  from  for- 
mer modes  of  activity  which  used  up  much  of  her 
available  energy  and  with  these  gone,  it  is  now 
no  unusual  sight  to  see  mothers  engaging  in  ten- 
nis, golf,  etc.,  with  their  own  sons  and  daughters. 
This  present  interest  may  also  be  related  to  her 
increased  attendance  in  schools  and  colleges  for 
there,  with  an  abundance  of  young  life,  sports 
and  games  are  sure  to  find  a  place. 

In  order  to  obtain  data  from  which  an  estimate 
could  be  made  of  this  increased  participation  in 

(47) 


PHYSICAL  VIGOR    OF    AMERICAN  WOMEN 

athletics,  the  author  wrote  to  one  of  the  largest 
dealers  in  athletic  goods  in  this  country,  Mr.  A.  G. 
Spalding  and  Brother  (74),  in  reference  to  the 
comparative  increase  in  the  sale  of  women's  ath- 
letic goods.  Their  estimate  follows: 

Percent  of  tennis  rackets  bought  by  women  as 
compared  with  men  twenty  years  ago,  1896,  10. 

Percent  of  tennis  rackets  bought  by  women  as 
compared  with  men,  1915,  30. 

Percent  of  golf  clubs  bought  by  women  as  com- 
pared with  men  twenty  years  ago,  1896,  3. 

Percent  of  golf  clubs  bought  by  women  as  com- 
pared with  men,  1916,  15. 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  comparison  that  the 
sale  of  these  two  forms  of  athletic  goods  has  in- 
creased many  fold  within  the  last  twenty  years, 
nor  does  this  take  into  account  the  great  number 
of  men's  tennis  rackets,  golf  clubs,  etc.,  constant- 
ly used  and  preferred  by  women. 

Not  only  so,  but  there  has  been  a  notable  in- 
crease in  the  participation  of  women  of  the  col- 
leges in  the  various  forms  of  athletic  games.  In 
an  attempt  to  estimate  this,  the  author  sent  out 
a  questionaire  of  six  questions  to  100  women's 
and  co-educational  colleges.  The  questions  were : 

1.  What   athletic    games   were   played,    1918, 
by  the  women  of  your  college? 

2.  What  athletic  games  were  played  20  years 
ago  by  the  women  of  your  college? 

3.  What  percent  of  your  students  take  part  m 
at  least  some  of  the  games  now? 

(48) 


PARTICIPATION  IN  ATHLETICS 

4.  What  percent  of  your  students  took  part  in 
some  of  the  games  20  years  ago? 

5.  Are  inter-class  or  inter-scholastic  games  al- 
lowed ? 

6.  In  what  year  was  systematic  physical  train- 
ing introduced? 

To  this  question  air  e  sixty-one  answers  were  re- 
ceived. The  answers  to  the  first  two  questions  are 
tabulated  as  follows: 

1896  1916 

Colleges  %            Colleges  % 

Tennis                                15  24.5                60  98.3 

Basketball                          4  6.5                61  100 

Hockey  28  45.9 

Baseball   (indoor  and  out)  32  52.4 

Bowing                                 1  1.6                 11  18 

Field  and  Track               1  1.6                24  39.3 

Swimming  18  29.5 

Archery  8  13.1 

Volleyball  10  16.3 

Handball                             1  1.6                  3  4.9 

In  addition  at  least  two  colleges  engaged  in 
cricket,  golf,  croquet,  riding,  fencing,  or  bowling. 

It  will  be  observed  from  this  table  that  the 
number  of  colleges  in  which  these  games  were 
played  twenty  years  ago  was  very  small  as  com- 
pared with  the  number  playing  them  today  and 
that  in  all  the  colleges,  basket  ball  is  now  played 
and  tennis  in  all  but  one.  Baseball,  either  indoor 
or  outdoor,  is  played  now  by  over  half  the  col- 
leges while  twenty  years  ago  it  was  played  in  no 
college.  The  recent  survey  of  the  Cleveland 
schools  (75)  reports  that  91  percent  of  the  high 
school  girls  play  baseball  on  the  school  grounds 
(49) 


PHYSICAL  VIGOR    OF    AMERICAN  WOMEN 

and  many  more  play  it  elsewhere  and  that  35  per- 
cent play  basket  ball. 

The  answers  to  the  third  and  fourth  questions, 
viz.,  the  percent  of  students  taking  part  in  at  least 
one  sport  twenty  years  ago  and  now  are  tabu- 
lated as  follows: 

1896  1916 

to   Students  Playing  No.  Colleges        No.  Colleges 

10  8  4 

20  3  3 

30  2  6 

40  1  3 

50  1  8 

60  1  4 

70  11 

80  7 

90  4 

100  1  10 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  table  that  every  college 
replying  (some  did  not  answer  questions  3  and  4) 
has  some  form  of  women's  athletics  now  and  that 
the  percent  of  women  taking  part  in  them  has 
steadily  increased  since  1896  and  that  by  1916,  in 
10  colleges  every  woman  enrolled  took  some  part 
in  the  sports,  while  twenty  years  ago  only  in  1 
college  all  of  the  women  enrolled  played  in  the 
games. 

The  answers  to  question  5  were  as  folows: 

No.  of  colleges  playing  inter-class  games  only,  48 
inter-school  14 

both  13 

themselves  10 

From  this  table  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  very 
little  of  the  spectacular  or  circus  element  in  col- 

(50) 


PARTICIPATION  IN  ATHLETICS 

lege  women's  athletics.  Some  schools  in  answer- 
ing this  question  replied  that  their  games  were 
limited  to  certain  schools  or  athletic  clubs. 

The  answers  to  question  6,  viz.,  the  year  in 
which  systematic  physical  training  was  intro- 
duced, are  as  follows: 

Year  in  which 
physical  train- 
ing was  intro- 
duced 1890    1895    1900    1905    1910-15 
No.  of  colleges      18        22        29        42          54 
Not  introduced  at  all,     7 

From  a  review  of  the  foregoing  data  in  regards 
to  women's  athletics  in  college,  it  is  evident  that 
within  the  last  twenty  years,  there  has  been  a  very 
marked  increase,  not  only  in  the  number  of  col- 
leges interested,  but  in  the  number  of  students 
who  take  part  in  them.  This  is  especially  signifi- 
cant when  it  is  recalled  that  Mr.  Durrant  (96)  in 
equipping  Wellesley  College  no  longer  ago  than 
1880,  found  no  women's  tennis  equipment  in  this 
country  but  was  obliged  to  send  to  England  for  it. 
Moreover,  in  not  a  few  cases  where  colleges  re- 
plied that  athletics  was  neglected  because  of  lack 
of  equipment,  there  was  expressed  a  note  of  re- 
gret and  in  no  case  was  it  said  that  the  women 
had  no  athletics  and  did  not  want  any.  This  too 
is  significant  when  it  is  remembered  that  not  so 
many  years  ago,  to  be  delicate,  dainty  and  doll- 
like  was  an  unfailing  mark  of  female  culture. 
(51) 


CHAPTER  V 
Conclusion. 

What  does  the  foregoing  array  of  facts  indicate 
in  regard  to  the  physical  vigor  of  the  women  of 
America?  Before  formulating  a  final  answer,  let 
us  review  the  facts  separately. 

1.  Soon  after  the  period  which  was  spoken  of 
in  this  study  as  the  one  in  which  the  large  family 
began  to  disappear,  the  women  of  America  began 
to  enter  the  schools  and  colleges  in  greater  num- 
bers than  heretofore,  the  attendance  increasing 
148.7  percent  during  the  decade  1890  to  1900  over 
any  previous  decade.     Likewise  the  percent  of 
gain  for  the  period  1880  to  1890  was  greater  than 
for  any  earlier  decade.     Women  also  entered  the 
professions  and  business,  especially  the  profession 
of  teaching  where  the  number  of  female  teachers 
increased  from  84,000  in  1870  to  467,000  by  the 
year  1910. 

2.  There  was  found  to  be  no  real  evidence  of 
any  increasing  functional  sterility    as  shown  by 

(a)  no  notable  increase  in  female  pelvic  diseases, 

(b)  no  significant  increase  in  the  percent  of  still- 
births, (c)  likewise  none  in  the  number  of  plural 
births,  (d)  no  evidence  of  any  organic  atrophy  of 
the  mammary  glands,  but  that  apparent  sterility 

(52) 


CONCLUSION 

is  due  to  (e)  social  and  personal  reasons,  (f)  that 
school  life  is  not  detrimental  to  fertility  and  that 
(g)  much  of  the  apparent  sterility  is  due  to  ven- 
ereal disease. 

3.  It  was  furthermore  found  that  the  longevity 
was  increasing  for  women  even  more  rapidly  than 
for  men. 

4.  The   anthropological  measurements  of  un- 
selected  groups  of  girls  entering  Wellesley  Col- 
lege, Mt.  Holyoke  College,  Smith  College,  Nebras- 
ka State  University,  and  Oberlin  College,  cover- 
ing in  all  a  period  of  years  from  1881  to  1916, 
were  found  to  show  a  tendency  to  change  and 
that  that  change  to  be  all  in  one  direction,  viz., 
to  increase.     This  was  thought  to  be  important, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  out  of  the  whole 
female    population   of   America,    anthropometric 
data  could  be  obtained  for  only  so  few  women. 
However,  there  is  a  considerable  mixing  of  the 
different  strata  in  American  society  so  that  in 
these  colleges,  many,  perhaps  all,  classes  of  society 
were  represented.     Furthermore,  by  the  decade 
1900  to  1910,  nearly  one  out  of  every  sixty  white 
girls  under  the  age  of  24  had  been  in  some  school 
of  higher  learning  (77).    Moreover,  every  state  in 
the  Union  was  represented  in  these  college  groups, 
although  data  of  comparative  values  was  unob- 
tainable for  southern  colleges. 

5.  In  women's  athletics,  there  was  seen  to  be 
a  great  advance  especially  among  college  women. 
This  was  shown  by  the  greatly  increasing  num- 

(53) 


PHYSICAL  VIGOR    OF    AMERICAN  WOMEN 

bers  of  colleges  taking  up  various  forms  of  ath- 
letic sports. 

Finally,  the  sober  student  of  humanity  can  be 
neither  wholly  pessimistic  nor  yet  unqualifiedly 
optimistic  in  attempting  to  judge  its  progress,  yet 
from  a  study  of  the  preceding  pages,  it  appeals 
that,  so  far  as  the  female  part  of  the  population 
is  concerned,  the  women  of  America  are  giving 
unmistakable  evidence  of  an  advance  in  their  phy- 
sical vigor.  And  this  we  have  correlated  with 
forces  now  at  work  tending  towards  woman's 
greater  individuation. 

There  are  doubtless,  some  classes  of  women  who 
had  small  representation  in  this  study.  There  are 
those  who  never  go  to  college,  nor  enter  the  pro- 
fessions, nor  play  games,  and  who  do  not  get  into 
the  classifications  of  the  life  insurance  tables.  It 
might  be  that  those  would  not  show  so  great  phy- 
sical advance  but  if  they  would  not,  that  would 
only  go  to  prove  the  present  thesis,  that  release 
from  former  excessive  household  cares  affords  en- 
ergy for  growth  and  development.  What  this  un- 
represented portion  of  our  female  population 
doubtless  needs  most,  is  to  have  better  and  more 
food,  fewer  children,  less  household  drudgery, 
more  time  for  recreation,  and  more  opportunity 
for  schooling.  What  it  would  mean  for  a  very 
large  number  of  our  women  to  have  good  whole- 
some food,  and  leisure  to  be  out  in  the  open  air, 
and  enough  vigor  remaining  to  really  play,  is  be- 
yond calculation.  It  wholly  staggers  the  imagin- 
(54) 


CONCLUSION 

ation  to  picture  some  of  these  women,  who  now 
eat,  work,  and  sleep  in  a  few  dirty  rooms  in  the 
midst  of  an  all  too  numerous  offspring,  out  in  the 
open  engaging  in  any  sort  of  spontaneous  activity 
which  bespeaks  abounding  physical  life.  And  if 
they  did  the  benefit  to  the  nation  at  large  in  after 
years,  could  hardly  be  estimated. 

When  it  is  suggested  that  women  ought  to  be 
given  an  enlarged  place  especially  as  suggested  in 
the  foregoing  pages,  a  common  reply  is,  that  wo- 
man's place  is  in  the  home,  by  which  is  meant 
that  she  ought  to  keep  house  and  bear  children. 
This  contains  a  truth  but  not  all  the  truth,  for  it 
does  seem  as  if  these  duties  ought  not  to  be  so  ex- 
cessive as  to  prevent  her  own  development. 


(55) 


References 

1.  Franklin  H.  Giddings,  Democracy  and  Em- 

pire, page  348. 

2.  W.  E.  Castle,  Genetics  and  Eugenics,  page 

262. 

3.  Madison  Grant,   The  Passing  of  the   Great 

Race. 

4.  David   Starr  Jordan,   War  and  the   Breed, 

page  62. 

5.  Walter  M.  Gallichan,  The  Great  Unmarried, 

page  41. 

6.  A.    W.    Smyth,   Physical   Deterioration,    Its 

Cause  and  Cure,  Chapters  I,  II,  and  III. 

7.  Sargent,   Am.   Phys.   Ed.   Review,   11,   page 

176. 

8.  C.  A.  Elwood,  Modern  Social  Problems,  page 

144. 

9.  Herbert  Spencer,  Principles  of  Biology,  Vol. 

2.    Chapters  12  and  13. 

10.  Calculations  based  on  report  of  the  Depart- 

ment of  Education  for  the  year  1915. 

11.  F.  L.  Pattee,  History  of  Am.  Lit.  since  1870, 

page  220ff. 

12.  J.  Lewis  Bonhote,  Vigor  and  Heredity,  Chap- 

ter II. 

(56) 


REFERENCES 

13.  Karl   Pearson,    The   Chance    of  Death   and 

Other  Studies  in  Evolution,  page  66,  Vol.  I. 

14.  G.  P.  Lydston,  Disease  of  Society,  page  88. 

15.  Mortality  Statistics  for  1913,  page  23. 

16.  A.  R.  Russel,  Social  Environment  and  Moral 

Progress,  page  72. 

17.  Eugene  S.  Talbot,  Degeneracy,  page  28ff. 

18.  G.  Stanley  Hall  and  Theodate  Smith,  Ped. 

Sem.  Vol  X,  page  275. 

19.  Calculated  from  the  Report  of  Vital  Statis- 

tics for  these  States,  published  yearly. 

20.  G.  Stanley  Hall,  Cosmopolitan  No.  48,  page 

660ff. 

21.  C.  A.  Ellwood,  Modern  Social  Problems. 

22.  G  von  Bunge,  Die  zunehemende  Unfaghig- 

kite   der  Frauen  ihre   Kinder   zu   Stillen 
page  17ff. 

23.  C.  E.  Woodruff,  Expansion  of  the  Races,  page 

43. 

24.  Abram  Jacobi,  American  Association  for  the 

Study  and  Prevention  of  Infant  Mortality. 
Third  annual  meeting  Report,  page  195. 

25.  J.  P.  Sedgwick,  as  above. 

26.  27.  American  Association  for  the  Study  and 

Prevention  of  Infant  Mortality,  Report  of 
Third  Annual  Meeting,  page  195ff. 

28,  29.  American  Journal  of  the  Diseases  of  Chil- 
dren, 1913,  Vol.  5. 

30.     Nestle 's  Food  Co.,  N.  Y.,  Eskay  's  Food,  Smith 
and  Co.,  Philadelphia. 
(57) 


PHYSICAL  VIGOR    OF   AMERICAN  WOMEN 

31.  F.  H.  Hankins,  Journal  of  Heredity,  Vol.  5. 

page  361. 

32.  Mrs.  Hollingsworth,  Functional  Periodicity, 

page  4ff. 

33.  G.  A.  Preston,  Influence  of  College  Life  on 

Health,  page  167. 

34.  American  Physical  Education  Review,  1902, 

Vol.  VII,  page  145. 
36.     American  Physical  Education  Review,  1899, 

Vol.  IV,  page  279. 
36.     Mrs.  Henry  Sedgwick,  Health  Statistics  of 

Women    Students    of    Oxford    and    Cam- 
bridge, page  60. 
3T.-42.  Allen  Pusey,  M.  D.,  Syphilis  as  a  Modern 

Problem,  Chapter  XI. 
43. -44.  Lavina  L.  Dock,  Hygiene  and  Mortality, 

pages  28  and  49. 
45    Jacques    Bertillon,    La   Depopulation    de   la 

France,  page  94. 

46.  Prince  Morrow,  M.  D.,  Social  Disease  and 

Marriage,  page  161. 

47.  Michael  F.  Guyer,  Being  Well  Born,  page  193. 

48.  McKeen  Cattel,  Independent,  Sept.  25,  1915. 

49.  Geddes   and   Thompson,   Evolution   of   Sex, 

Chapter  II. 

50.  Abstract  of  the  Census  for  1910,  Volume  on 

Population,  page  122. 

51.  Equitable  Life  Assurance  Co.,  by  Mr.  F.  W. 

Frankland,  consulting  actuary. 

52.  Irving  Fisher,  The  National  Vitality,  page  19. 

53.  W.    L.    Douglas   Shoe    Company,   Brockton, 

Mass. 

(58) 


REFERENCES 

54.  Walk-Over  Shoe  Co.,  Campelio,  Mass. 

55.  Rice  and  Hutchins,  Boston,  Mass. 

56.  Krohn,  Flechheimer  and  Co.,  Cincinnati,  0. 

57.  Bachner,  Moses,  Louis  and  Co.,  Gloversville, 

N.  Y. 

58.  Julius  Kayser  and  Co.,  New  York. 

59.  The  Royal  Corset  Co.,  Worcester,  Mass. 

61.  Department  of  Physical  Education,  Wellesley 

College,  Wellesley,  Mass. 

62.  Kindly  furnished  by  Dr.  Florence  Oilman, 

Smith  College. 

63.  Kindly  furnished  by  Grace  L.  Bennett,  Mt. 

Holyoke  College. 

64.  Kindly  furnished  by  Mrs.  Ina  Oittings,  Uni- 

versity of  Nebraska. 

65.  Kindly  furnished  and  the  calculations  made 

by  Dr.  Adephine  Hanna,  Oberlin,  Ohio. 

66.  Sir  Francis  Galton,  Inquiries  Into  the  Human 

Faculties,  page  22. 

67.  W.  Z.  Ripley,  The  Races  of  Europe,  page  85. 

68.  Wm.  H.  Burnham,  Unpublished  data,  Clark 

University,  Worcester,  Mass. 

69.  G.  M.  Whipple,  Manual  of  Mental  and  Phy- 

sical Tests,  page  72. 

70.  DeBusk,  Pedagogical  Seminary,  No.  3,  1917. 

71.  Frank  Fetter,  Principles  of  Economics,  page 

174. 

72.  Luther    Gulick,  Ped.    Sem.    Vol.  VI,    198-9, 

page  137. 

73.  Karl  Groos,  Play  of  Man,  page  364. 

74.  A.  G.  Spalding  and  Bro.,  New  York. 

(59) 


PHYSICAL  VIGOR    OF    AMERICAN  WOMEN 

75.  Education    Through    Recreation,    Cleveland 

School  Survey,  page  55. 

76.  Florence  Converse,  The  Story  of  Wellesley, 

page  37. 

77.  Based  on  the  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of 

Education  and  the  Federal  Census  Reports 
of  the  year  1910. 


(60) 


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